How I Feed My Family for $300 a Month

I’ve been asked to share my “secret” for feeding 5 people for $300 a month…and no we don’t eat hot dogs and mac n cheese every day.  First and foremost, I’m not a meat eater, so I think that might save a little money, but then again I have a husband, a preteen boy, and a four year old boy who eats like a grown man so maybe I cook more meat than the average family. My daughter isn’t big on meat either, but she’ll eat shredded chicken and occasionally she’ll eat ground beef but not often.

Okay, back to the point here! Here are a few basics to keeping the food bill down:

We buy meat in bulk…ground beef in 5 pound packages and broken up, repackaged, and frozen at home

We buy frozen boneless chicken breasts in 8 pound bags

We buy a few of the kids favorites (Eggo waffles, Gogurt yogurt tubes, and Frigo string cheese)  in bulk at Sam’s Club

We don’t drink empty calories. No sodas, no juice boxes, etc.

We don’t buy bottled water

We don’t buy premade sweets/desserts. I make fudge, bake cookies, cakes, etc…3 times a week, so there is always something sweet to nosh on and I didn’t spend my kid’s college funds on Oreos and Chips Ahoy.

We don’t shop hungry!

We try to take one day to do all of our shopping, hit the stores 

we need to hit to get the best deals

We buy store brand unless name brand is on sale for cheaper

We don’t use many coupons, because I’m not gifted enough to get things for super cheap by couponing so I end up spending more to get the name brand items just to use a coupon.

We treat the kids to a slushy at Sonic or an ice cream cone at McDonald’s and some time at the play place every payday instead of eating an entire meal out.

I marathon cook. I’ll put six chicken breasts in the crock pot, when they’re cooked I shred them and make 3-4 main courses out of them, put them in casserole dishes and freeze them. When I’m tempted to go out to eat or order a pizza, I grab one and pop it in the oven…instant dinner

I buy lots of popsicles. My kids are obsessed and they’re super cheap and a perfect treat for the summer

Our only drinks are milk, orange juice, and plain water or store brand crystal light. I mentioned not drinking calories but it really adds up. I can make three gallons of flavored water for under $2…and there are very few calories. I know a lot of people are really against artificial colors and flavoring so take this advice with a grain of salt, but as for me, I love the grape flavor. 

I buy iced coffee from Aldi as a treat on grocery day. I was a Starbucks junkie for a long time, but for 2.99 I can get a half gallon of iced vanilla coffee and I make it stretch. It’s the little things.

We pack picnics and go to the park instead of going to restaurants. Peanut butter and jelly, a few bananas, some crackers or pretzels, and homemade cookies…my kids think they hit the jackpot, and my wallet stays happy.

So, there are a few ideas for cutting out the waste on the grocery bill…but what about actually shopping for meals on only $300?! It’s honestly not that hard if you force your kids (and yourself…because I struggled with this too) to learn portion control, and to figure out the difference between being no longer hungry, and STUFFED after a meal. Also my younger kids (ages 4 and 5) tend to eat often throughout the day instead of sitting down to three big meals and having a snack or two. I know there are other parents who have kids who do the same, and I feel like it’s a healthier option, so here is a day in the life of a kid that eats frequently

Morning: Small bowl of yogurt with chopped almonds

Mid-Morning: Packet of instant oat meal with peaches or pineapples

Noon-ish: Half of a grilled cheese and a pickle

Early afternoon: Carrots and ranch dressing

Late afternoon: String cheese and a few animal crackers

Dinner: 2-3 meatballs, some peas, a mandarin orange

Bedtime snack: Graham crackers and milk

Obviously the “what” changes from day to day but the portions stay about the same. If you add it up, the cost is probably equal to having 3 larger meals and a couple snacks. It works for them, it works for me, so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Dinner is probably the hardest place to save money. The meat staples in our house are chicken breasts and ground beef or turkey (whichever one happened to be on sale) and I pick one other meat to switch things up a bit once every two weeks. My hubby and preteen love pork tenderloin and corned beef so I tend to go back and forth between those, and we also keep chicken patties for chicken sandwiches in the freezer, along with chicken nuggets for the little kids and beer battered fish fillets for my husband and oldest son…because honestly some days are hard and cooking a meal from scratch isn’t going to happen and let’s face it kids like chicken nuggets and French fries sometimes. When I do cook from scratch, these are the meals that find their way to my table most often:

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes with a veggie

Spanish rice with ground beef and stewed tomatoes

Skillet something (rice or pasta, spices, shredded chicken or ground beef, and onions and peppers)

Baked ziti

Spaghetti and meatballs

Chicken enchiladas

Chicken fajitas

Corned beef with carrots and potatoes

BBQ pork tenderloin

Sloppy Joes

We switch it up a bit but these happen a lot, and for our meatless nights:

Angel hair with marinara

Bean burritos

Matzo ball soup w/sandwich

Caesar salad

Veggie pizza

So as you can see…we eat, it might not be as healthy as some, but it sure beats drive thru! I think the easiest way to start saving on groceries is to keep a little stock pile. I have a small pantry, and shelving in my microwave cart, plus a deep freezer, so that helps with stocking up when things go on sale. I try to keep some cans of soup, tuna, veggies, PB & J, and canned fruit on hand to make meals or snacks in a pinch. I keep extra boxes of mac n cheese, or au gratin potato mixes etc. on hand so if I happen to run out of potatoes, or my kids friends are still here at dinner time, I’m covered if I need extra food and  I don’t need to run to the store.

Our biggest splurge is milk, so I had to find the cheapest place to buy it, which is Sam’s Club. We drink skim milk, and a gallon at Sam’s is $1.99 compared to $3.79 at Kroger, our local grocery store. About $25 of our budget every month is just milk! I use it for cooking, the kids use it in their cereal, and on nights when my husband works late, he saves his dinner for lunch at work the next day and just eats a couple bowls of cereal.

I do most of my baking from scratch now so I spend another $25 on flour, oil, sugar, butter, etc.  (raisins, chocolate chips, nuts) but it lasts a full month and we get yummy treats so no complaints! Also, you can google “eggless brownies, cookies, etc.” and find lots of great recipes. Eggs are pricey so I eliminate them from baking when I can.

I spend about $50 on fruits and veggies. I buy frozen onion/pepper blends for cooking, frozen corn, spinach, and peas. Frozen is cheaper and I don’t have to worry about it going bad and since some of my kids like one veggie over another, I can just take out a little of this, a little of that, put the rest back in the freezer and everyone is happy. As far as fruit, we buy strawberries when they go on sale, bananas, apples, and grapes, and mandarin oranges are the staples, and I buy diced peaches and pineapple tidbits canned. The kids like them in their oatmeal or on their cottage cheese. I also buy cans of fruit cocktail, mix it with cool whip, chopped nuts, raisins, and marshmallows for a dessert.

I spend $75 on meat, that includes lunch meat, breakfast sausage, and a couple pounds of bacon to use in cooking and for weekend breakfast…that stuff has gotten EXPENSIVE!

I spend $25 on snacks…bags of popcorn (the kind you pop on the stove yourself), pretzels, crackers, etc…the rule here is that when it’s gone, it’s gone…so the kids don’t gobble it up fast like they used too. J

I spend $50 on dairy and bread (aside from milk)…this is our various cheeses, yogurt, eggs, sandwich bread, dinner rolls, and so forth

I spend $25 on pasta, canned goods, things that are on the cheaper side. I use canned crushed tomatoes ($0.99 at Aldi) and spices for spaghetti sauce instead of the $2-$4 jar, so pair that with pasta that I buy on sale 10 for $10, and I’m making a month of spaghetti for $8!

I keep $25 reserved for “extras”…like the crystal light I mentioned that we like, the popsicles, and the little things that just make life fun! I’ll grab a jar of peanut butter for my stockpile too every month and store brand cereal goes on sale for $1 a box so I grab like 5 at a time lol.

We also have 2 nights a week for leftovers, which cuts down on food purchases as well. 

I realize this blog is extremely long, but I hope it helps some people see that eating on a budget doesn’t have to completely suck, and when you start seeing the savings add up, treat yourself for your hard work! If you used to spend $600 and now you’re spending $450, take $50 and take your family to a museum or something! Make a memory and know you can afford to give them that memory because you worked so hard!

Happy shopping!!

-Cilla